I have just spent the best part of two hours making Damson Jam. I bought the Damsons from a great greengrocers in Bridport the other day as we were passing through.
Bridget’s Greengrocers
I believe its the same one Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall visits on some of his programmes. Anyway, having bought my Damsons, Plums and some lovely Cox’s Apples l decided to make jam out of these lovely deep purple nuggets.
Weighing Damsons
I used 3lb of Damsons, 2 3/4 sugar and 1/4 pint of water.
In a large pan slowly simmer the damsons in the water until the damsons break up and release their stones.Now l am guessing maybe l should have made this jam at the start of the day rather than at the end of a rather hard days work. Standing there and slowly removing the stones was not my best job of the day! Top Tip: It is easier to remove the stones once the sugar has been added as they all rise to the surface, Its still a real fiddly job.
Removing the stones
Bring to the boil until setting point has been reached. To test just spoon a small amount onto a cold saucer and let it cool a little. Push the jam with your finger and if it wrinkles and looks like a skin has formed then it should be set.
Pour into hot jars and seal immediately. I made about 5lb. I hope it sets otherwise it will be lovely with rice pudding. PS The next day proved it had set and tasted fantastic. Well worth the effort!
Did anyone watch Wartime Farm? I thought it had the makings of a great series. The addition of scenes of them sat round a wireless listening to Neville Chamberlain’s speech announcing the outbreak of war and Churchill’s rousing speeches was quite moving. Looking forward to the coming weeks.
Digging for Victory! 
Janet/Plantaliscious
September 10, 2012 at 15:57
That is a lovely looking shop – we have a greengrocers in the village, but the prices are extortionate and the range very limited 😦 I am trying to work out what fruit to try to cram in the garden, you have caused me to wonder about damsons, but then I remembered that we don’t really eat much jam! Glad yours set and is delicious.
trevorhunt
September 11, 2012 at 14:35
If l had a choice Janet l would still go for a damson tree but my first choice would be a Mulberry, closely followed by a Morello Cherry. We stumbled across a Mulberry tree some years ago. the owner kindly let us have some fruit. By the time we had gathered it we looked as though we had just slaughtered the entire village! Fantastic fruit though and, again, great jam.